Piccalilli

This is one of Mr Olivers and was published in Delicious magazine

Makes 5 x 450g jars

• 1/2 large cauliflower, cut into small florets
• 1 head broccoli cut into small florets
• 2 fennel bulbs cut into small chunks
• 4 red and 2 green chillies with seeds still in finely sliced
• 200g fine green beans, chopped into small lengths
• 150g runner beans cut into small lengths
• 300g shallots, cut into eighths
• 1 red onion, roughly chopped
• 2 handfuls fine sea salt
• 2 tbsp mustard oil
• 2 heaped tbsp mustard seeds
• 2 tbsp ground cumin
• 2 tbsp tumeric
• 1 nutmeg, grated
• 2 tbsp English mustard powder
• 4 tbsp flour
• 500ml white wine vinegar
• 2 apples, grated
• 2 mangos, peeled, stoned and roughly chopped
• 6 tbsp sugar
• 3 garlic cloves crushed
• 2 tbsp dried oregano
• 4 bay leaves

Put all the vegetables in a bowl, add the saly and enough water to cover and leave in cool place for about 1hr.

Heat a saucepan big enough to hold all the vegetables (it needs to be big). Add the mustard oil to the pan, then fry the mustard seeds, cumin, tumeric and nutmeg for a moment. Lower the heat, add a splash of vinegar, stir well and make a thick paste. Gradually add the remaining vinegar and 100ml water, stirring all the time to make a smooth paste. Add the apples, magos, suagr, garlic, oregano and bay leaves. Cook for 2-3 minutes.

Sterilise the jars by putting them open in an oven at 140 degrees for 10 minutes.

Drain the salt vegetables and add them to the pan, stirring well to coat with the spicy paste. Cook for 10-15 minutes until the vegetables have just softened and started to release some juice.

Spoon into the warm jars and put the lids on. Store in a cool dark place for 1 month before eating to mature the flavours.

Stuffed Chicken Breasts

• 4 chicken breasts
• 8 pieces parma ham or proscuttio
• knob of butter
• clove of garlic
• 4 shallots, finely chopped
• 250g mushrooms, finely chopped
• 1tbsp thyme, finely chopped
• splash of white wine
• white wine
• stilton/boursin cheese if wanted

Melt the butter in a frying pan over a moderate heat, add the shallots and allow to sweat for a couple of minutes. Add the garlic, thyme and mushrooms and cook for 8-10 minutes, adding a splash of wine.

Next job is to butterfly the chicken breasts. First rinse the breasts and pat dry with a paper towel to remove any slippery coating. Take a sharp knife and carefully cut horizontally through the breast but not all the way through, leave the end piece attached so you can open out into one large chicken breast.

Place the breast opened out in a tough plastic or ziplock bag. Bash gently with a rolling pin to thin the breast more and make it larger.

Cover the kitchen surface with a sqaure of clingfilm bigger than the chicken breast and lay it on it spread out. spread the mushroom out across the middle of the chicken breast from one edge to the other forming a stripe across the middle around 1.5 inches thick (don't spread the mushroom too thick, you need to roll). If you want cheese with it, put boursin or slices of stilton across the top of the mushroom (again not too thick as you need to roll). Then starting at the bottom edge roll the chicken breast up as tightly as possible into a sausage shape and wrap very tightly in cling film.

Repeat with all chicken breasts. Then put a pan of boiling water on the hob and bring to a rolling simmer and place all the chicken breasts in the pan and poach for 30 mins. Remove from pan and leave to cool.

Once cooled, get the pieces of parma ham and lay 2 pieces longways, side by side so you get a piece of ham wide enough to wrap round the chicken. Remove the chicken from the clingfilm. The poaching and tight wrapping should have sealed it together in a sausage shape. Wrap the chicken tightly with the parma ham and place in a roasting dish. Repeat for all other chicken breasts.

You can do all these steps way in advance and just leave the chicken like this ready for dinner. Put the chicken in the oven at 180 degrees 20 minutes before serving to crisp off the ham.

Serve with potatoes and vegetables and a white wine sauce if required.

Mango Margaritas

• 1 part tequila
• 1 part triple sec
• 2 parts mango juice
• 2 parts sour mix (1 cup lemon juice, 1 cup lime juice, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup water)
• approx 5 chunks frozen mango
• 1 small handful ice

Put ice and mango in blender and switch on to start crushing. Start to add the other ingredients on the list, blending all the time.

Dip the top of a margarita glass in lime juice and then in salt. Pour the margarita into the glass and enjoy.